Gravity actuated whirling ring toy



March 17, 1959 A. G. BRANT GRAVITY ACTUATED WHIRLING RING TOY Filed Sept. 7, 1955 INVENTOR Arakz'e 'u flrani BY I ATTO Y United States Patent GRAVITY ACTUATED WHIRLING RING TOY Archie Guy Brant, Austin, Tex., assignor of one-fourth to James F. Babb, one-fourth to Elbert G. Babb, Jr., and one-fourth to Robert E. Clayton, all of Austin, Tex.

Application September 7, 1955, Serial No. 532,97 8

3 Claims. (Cl. 46-47) This invention relates to amusement devices and has for its object the provision of a whirling ring toy which is extremely simple of construction and about as indestructible as a toy can be.

A further object of the invention is to provide a whirling ring toy which can be used as a game.

In its broader aspect the invention consists of a standard which follows in general form a line wound in spaced turns around a surface of revolution such as a cylinder, a cone, a barrel, etc., and on the standard a plurality of objects of such weight that they will fall down the standard by gravity and as they fall will be urged away from the standard by centrifugal action. The objects could be of any shape and of any material but preferably should have a central hole through each object so that they will fit very loosely on the standard to allow the objects, preferably annular bodies such as rings, to project far beyond the margin of the standard as they fall, each end of the standard alternately being above and below the companion end. Normally there would always be some element for preventing the descending objects from leaving the standard.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation with all of the rings at the bottom of the standard.

Figure 2 is an elevation at right angles to that shown in Figure 1 and showing the rings in flight down the standard.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the standard showing the rings descending as in Figure 2.

In its simplest and preferred form the amusement device, which can be used as a game or as a toy, comprises a single piece of round wire about a sixteenth of an inch in diameter wound into a smooth helix forming a standard 10 or pathway and a plurality of annular objects or rings 11 with their centers of gravity at their centers and mounted loosely on the helix and retained thereon by loops 12 and 13 at the ends of the helix and of a diameter greater than that of the rings, but preferably smaller than the diameter of the helix. When the device is used as a game it is preferred that the loops 12 and 13 shall lie in parallel planes which are spaced apart the diameter of the helix, which for 1" rings may be 1%", the helix having 8 /2 turns. The overall length of the device is 18" which has been found to be a convenient size for a child. The axial length of a complete turn is greater than the diameter of the helix.

The rings 11 are preferably of plastic about an eighth of an inch thick, with a circular radial section to minimize friction with the wire, and for the best efiect are alternately red and white, about thirty in number. These various dimensions and details are purely for giving a 2,877,597 Patented Mar. 17, 1959 clearer picture of the device, the invention being limited only as stated in the several claims.

The reason for having the loops 12 and 13 as illustrated and described is to enable the use of the device as a game. A typical form of this would be to hold the device horizontal with all of the rings at one end. Then the device is suddenly made vertical and at what the player believes is the critical time the device is moved through to bring loop 12, for example, to horizontal position, uppermost, and to the left. The object of the game is to get as many rings as possible into the next to the last loop; the player, however, being penalized a chosen amount for each ring that passes that 1oop,so that an appreciable amount of skill and dexterity is required.

The device is substantially noiseless with the plastic rings which are preferred and the noise even with metal rings is not appreciable. If desired, however, the noise can be greatly increased merely by holding a postal card, for example, tightly against either the upper loop 12 or the lower loop 13, the device being readily reversible unless a base is provided, which is neither necessary nor advisable.

What I claim is:

l. The combination with a series of at least ten closed rings of circular radial section each with its center of gravity at the center of the ring, of an elongated smooth pathway formed by a wire helix of at least four turns spaced about an axis, the central holes of the rings being at least five times the diameter of the wire of the pathway whereby when the pathway is held with its axis vertical the rings may pass down the pathway by gravity and be thrown outward by centrifugal force as they descend while being restrained by the pathway, said rings being greater in number than can be supported on one turn of the helix when the axis of the pathway is moved to a horizontal position.

2. A game comprising a smooth helix of round wire of at least six turns with an integral retaining loop at each end, the axial length of a complete turn being greater than the diameter of the helix, and a series of at least a dozen plastic rings each having a central circular 7 hole at least five times the diameter of the wire through which holes the wire passes, and with its center of gravity located at its center, the loops being of a size to retain the rings on the helix, the weights of the rings being sufliciently greater to fall by gravity when the helix is held vertically with the wire engaging a margin of each hole, thereby causing the centers of the holes to follow a helical path greater in diameter than the diameter of the helix, whereby when the helix is positioned vertically and turned quickly 90 degrees to horizontal while the rings are descending, the rings will be held on a number of difierent turns of the helix.

3. The game of claim 2 in which the loops are circular and the planes of the loops are parallel and spaced apart the diameter of the helix.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 742,397 Day Oct. 27, 1903 2,596,688 Hinsen May 13, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 11,154 Great Britain A. D. 1902 

